Game apparatus



April 7, 1942.

W. H. TWEED, JR

GAME APPARATUS- Filed Dec. l1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 7, 1942- w. H. TWEED. JR 2,278,808

GAME APxfARATUs l Filed Dec. ll, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 7, 1942 agresor GAMEAPPARATUS William H. Tweed, Jr., Peabody, litiasis. Application nec-miner 11, 1.9.40,.se'ria1Nasale11 l i-oiaiim. (cimaery v I g The present invention relates to :a game .appara-tus, particularly to 4the .novel and practical construction pf `'such van 'apparatus adapted forl the pins set up i-n the front portion -of the table instead of the customary location in the rear..

.Another object of the invention is to so construct ;the side Wal1s.adjacent to the .pins when positioned .to play, that` a gutter .is formed on either side of the alley "bed which Vwould canse the disk 'in :slide or .skid .clear of the pins on a poor side shot.

Another object of the .invention is to supply L strongly yupholstered sides adjacent yto the pins so that the disks maybe thrown or rsquailed against the upholstered side and carom into the pins. This is 'especially important in yorder to contact various combinations of ystanding pins.

.Another object ofthe invention .is to construct a pit 'with upholstered side walls to deaden the noise and of suicient size and depth to retain the pins so that they Will not bounce back on to the front portion; also transverse net barriersare attached to the fron-t and rear to catch .stray disks :and flying pins. v

A further Aobject lof theinventionis to provide a special form of construction of the front portion alley bed so as to adapt it to receive and 5' hold a smooth taut surface covering of sole leather or some such suitable material.

A still further object is to provide such a construction for the legs and sockets that they may be easily attached and detached to facilitate either L- I erection or shipment of the apparatus.

With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and y, claimed, and While the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 shows a side elevation of my device. Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 2--2 in Figure 1.

Figure@ .fis an enlarged detail of the disk which is used. Y Y i .3a -istanother view `of the disk shown in Figure 4i .is a plan view :show-ing the' device as set up. e v .Figure 5 is a rear view oimy device showing how the 4back' screen may be supported. e

Figure `6 .shows anenlarged detail of the pins used. l v Fig. :6a is another View of the pin `sl-lown in Fig. 6.

Figure. 7 shows .an optional method -ofholding thefsront end of ther playing surface cover.

.In the `preferred embodiment ofthe invention, referring-to the drawings, A and A1 show the side walls :of the pit `M shows the side Walls of the playing corridor.; AB `'shows the back Wall of the device, '.C .indicates 'the vflooring of the playing .surface while fCl .shows -the floor of the pit f into which .thepins vPiall when knocked over by disk. D. The deviceA vis' supported k'on .legs which are showin and. designated by the characters, L, L2 and L3. The legs .are inserted in :and attached i' to socket LL by screw Ybrackets LL?. Attached to the iront .legs is a :screen E which prevents the disk vfrom passing 'under they device when alow shot is made, while .on Vthe back of the device I have va .screen .F supported on fa `frame G to catch the pins orfdisk incase of high shots. The

ooring `of the pitis covered with linoleum or such suitable material to deaden thenoise oi falling pins =or disk. The .flooring of the alleybed .is pover-ed with heavy sole leather or other suitable material J which will give a smooth tough surface and absorb the noise..

I have shown two methods of holding the covering J. The rst in Figure 1 shows the material tacked to the front wall under the cross or guide bar T, which is rounder at its outer surface, with a strip Z on top yof the material. The sole leather or material is cemented to the flooring. In Figure 7 the material is not cemented tothe flooring but it gives one an opportunity to tighten the playing surface should it become loose through stretching of the material. This is done by fastening the material as in the first method, and between the front guide bar T and the front legs, a shaft X is placed, on the shaft are protruding hook lingers W1 which are'placed in orifices in the covering material J. Attached to the shaft X is a ratchet wheel W which engages a pawl U, the said pawl U is pivoted on a stud V and held against the ratchet W by a spring Y. When the shaft X is turned or rotated in the direction of the arrow, which is shown in Figure 7, the pliable covering material is pulled taut and it is held tight by the ratchet and pawl.

The side walls and rear wall of the pit are covered with a suitable shock receiving material, and are still further padded to absorb severe shocks which might occur during the use of the device. The side walls of the playing corridor M are covered as shown in Figure 2. This covering is used not only as a means of absorbing shocks but asa means by which a player may bounce the disk oli the sides in order to strike scattered standing pins.

The covering is done in the following manner: `a

piece of leather N or other suitable material is` fastened atA O and a-felt frame work R isy built around a hard wood frame surface. This makes.

felt covered frame work a suitable padding material S is used. Between the base of the upholstered frame and the flooring of the playing surface a groove or gutter R1 is formed. The front of the playing surface at T is rounded in order to give a gradual approach and also to allow for the tightening of the covering. y As illustrated in Figures l and 7 it consists of a piece of 4:A x 4" rounded at its outer surfaces and cut and attached in a novel way to the end of the playing surface.

As, of course, my invention is not limited to size or material, my device may be constructed in various sizes in order to be adapted to the many requirements of space and usage. The larger sizes may be constructed for use in clubs, hotels, and fraternal and social societies. yThe smallersizes may be used in home recreational rooms and cafes. 'In the particular device which I have constructed,-I have utilized a heavy sole leather as the covering for the playing surface,v and linoleum to cover the floor of the pit. The latter maybe tacked or cemented' down` I have Iused side leather on the front side walls, and sheep leather on the walls adjacent the pit. The padding material I used in the front section was plain sawdust making the same very solid and adapted to receive the severe blows of the disks, and the padding in the rear section consisted of a mixture of sawdust and wood shavings in order to make it softer and deaden the noise of the pins when striking against the rear and sides of the pit. In this particular device the rear wall was about 17 inches high, with the frame G further extended therefrom, in the center of the front side wall the height was 12 inches, the rear legs were about 25 inches, and the front legs about 28 inches in height, which allowed for a 3 inch drop from the front floor to the oor of the pit. The exterior of the combined side walls was about 50 inches in length. 'I'he front floor was approximately 36 inches Wide by 27 inches in depth, and the floor of the pit 26 inches wide by 23 inches in depth. Thus it may be seen that a novel feature of this device is that the depth of the pit is almost equal to the depth of the alley-bed. The -pins used were 5 inches in height with a. diameter of 11/2 inches at the ends and 2 inches in the center. The disks were 4 inches in diameter and slightly tapered towards the edge with a thickness of 11/8 inches at the center. The groove R1 is 1% inches to allow the disk to slide along the side in the ygroove after a misplaced shot.

The rules of the game may be varied but for the above sized apparatus it has been found most interesting to make the pitching mark about ten feet from the nearest playing edge of the device. The disks iit into thepalm of an adults hand. They may be so held and slid off the fingers or they may be held in the fingers and thrown with a wrist movement. A poor shot'falling below the table surface will land in net E and prevent the same from rolling over the room. When the pins are knocked particularly hard and y above the back Wall B they will land in the net G and then fall or rebound into the pit.

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawing have reference to the preferred or approved embodiment of myinvention. It is to be understood however that such changes may be made in construction and arrangement of parts, materials and dimensions as may prove expedient and fall Within the scope of the appended claim. -Having thusl described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by- Letters Pat'- ent is: i

.In game apparatus of the class described the combination of a body-section composed of an alley-bed with a rounded front portion, walls at opposite sides of the alley-bed padded in the interior, frames on the side walls to hold the padding, pliable coverings for said padding and frames, spaces between the bases of the frames and the alley-bed, a pliable covering for the alley-bed and the rounded front portion, and means to tighten the same, a -pit section comprising a soft covered bottom below the plane of the alley-bed, padded back and sides for the pit section, the sides being extensions of the side walls of the alley-bed, a transverse barrier attached to the front legs.

WILLIAM H. TWEED. Jn. 

